I also go with humour being funny if it is funny. One day something may not make me laugh and another I might be laughing my head off.  It is a complex thing.

If there is humour, there is a physiological respo­nse- a smile, a chuckle, a laugh...

I am also not easily offended. If it is funny I will laugh whether it is bathroom humour or x-rated...
Improv
Shock comedy anything from Lenny Bruce or Redd Foxx
Insult comedy and anything from Rodney Dangerfield to Lisa Lampanelli or Ricky Gervais
Alt. comedy like Kids in the Hall
Intellectual comedy or stupid comedy
Blue comedy
Dark humour
Blunder comedy like Rowan Atkinson's Mr. Bean
Spoofs like Scary Movie
 

I simply love to laugh and do it often.

this is a true story.  My son was probably about 9 years old and I asked him to do something for me. As per usual he dragged his feet so I asked him to do it now. Again no response. I asked him "what part of now don't you understand."

He said with a straight face. "The W."

I couldn't help but laugh

SG, 

I agree with you that what I consider funny depends on my mood.  Some of those auto correct jokes are pretty funny.  My ipad does auto correct......it can be annoying because I don't always look up as I'm typing and the keypad is a touch screen.  Lots of booboos.

Musicsooths, 

Kids can say the funniest things sometimes, even when they don't think they are being funny.  They are often so much smarter than we realize.

My wife and I cannot watch Comedy Inc.'s  weathergil Nikki Payne skits without needing oxygen.

That is funny, and cute!

I was rolling on the floor laughing at the pole dancing names the other day. I thought twice about fully particpating, but I laughed so hard tears were rolling down my cheeks at one point. The idea itself, of putting a pet's name and a street name together...and what resulted...that in itself was hilarious...especially imagining some of those who participated calling themselves by their pole dancing name. Hilarious. Hamster 72cnd...where are you, you sexy thang?

I like spontaneous humour...and accidental humour, dry wit...and ironic humour...humour where we can laugh at ourseves. I don't much like slap-stick--sometimes I suppose.

I think my humour is similar to SG's - all over the map. I love to laugh, but I worry about offending 'cause it can get pretty salty. A sense of occasion helps. Humour is something like a nutrient. I thought the pole dancing names were really funny. Admittedly, sometimes I feel like I must be channeling a 9 yr old boy! There's this goop I found that makes flatulent noises when you stick your fingers in it.
It's very therapeutic.

Sorry-triple post

Sorry- triple post

I don't enjoy cruel "humor" or over the top rude/gross (racist, sexist etc)

What I find funny really does depend on my mood.  Things like the pole dancer name thread might make me smile at a few of them, but I find that things like that are a novelty.  The first time they are funny, but after you've seen them many times they lose their appeal.

I probably laugh the most when I'm with friends.

Kimmio and chemgal,  

I am entertained by the pole dancer thread too. Some of the names, when put together, cause our imaginations to produce entertaining images to be sure, and sometimes the additional commentary is just as funny.  The same thing goes for the Fetch thread.  It is wonderful to see people's imaginations used to make others laugh.   

Would you be able to provide an example of a joke you have seen which made you spit out your drink or brought tears to your eyes?  What have you seen recently that made you laugh out loud?

Ninjafeary,  

Your comment about homour being therapeutic is well taken.  Ketchup farts still make us laugh around here too.  

The unexpected and  silly things people I know do make me laugh. Like, if a friend is looking for their sunglasses and they are on this or her head. I might let them look for a minute before pointing it out . Or, once my when my partner and I were still dating, he needed to find a phone number, so he looked phone book to find the number for information...that made me laugh. It took him a minute to figure out why it was so funny. Or, my step dad once went out in the yard in the middle of the night because the raccoons were getting into the garbage and making noise...and my mom told me he was  in the back yard  in his boxer shorts and undershirt squirting them with toy water-guns...my step dad is a gentle older man...that image in my mind was hysterically funny. Lots of examples like that, including my own. When i was a teenager I got locked in a department store at closing time because I was busy chatting with my friend on the payphone that was down  corridor near the washrooms and didn't realize they were closing, I was oblivious...I went out into the store and it was dimly lit, noone around, escalalors turned off...so I had to go back to the phone and call 911...and the 911 dispatcher, I could tell, was trying not to laugh herself. "You're what?..snicker, snicker.. Where?" I think first I called my mom to explain why I would be late for dinner. Can't say she was overly surpised I had gotten myself into that predicament. While I was still on the phone with 911, a store manager came walking through...I explained what happened...and he looked at me a bit suspisciously and led me out.of the store. Nowdays, that might have made the news and I can imagine I would have been totally humiliated...but it is pretty funny.

The SNL sketch of single ladies was quite good!

The George Takei FB page has some good gems.  Very few get me laughing out loud by myself though.

For me too - it's a matter of mood & company - both are variable!  

On the way home today, I heard a clip from cbc radio's The Irrelevant Show - to be broadcast tomorrow (Sat) - "Cell Phone Physics" - Stephen Hawking listening & responding to a cell phone pitch.  Mostly struck me funny because it reminded me of being in such a situation some years back & my daughter practically leaping over the counter when the clerk said to me - "well lady, if you can't understand this stuff maybe you really shouldn't have a cell phone" - seriously!! 

I went to check out the George Takei home page.  I was laughing out loud.  By myself.  Again. The cat's diary is cute,  and the JW cartoon is as well.  I sometimes hear my kids, especially my 20 year old son, laughing in their rooms.  Sometimes they are together and sometimes they are alone. They have seen or read something that has made them laugh.  My youngest brother would sometimes break into a giggle just because he had been thinking of something that he thought was funny.  He still does.  

you're right.  Funny. I can picture you being engrossed in what you are doing and missing closing time.  

Cute animal pics make me laugh, especially some of the clever comments and I don't mind if they have been photoshopped.

Gecko, I agree. 

Here is another.

My dog was a food thief.  She could not reach food on the counter top if it was pushed back close to the wall.  One day there was some chicken cooling on the counter as it was too hot to put into the fridge.  We forgot about it for a while and when we returned to the kitchen the cat was on the counter sending chicken pieces onto the floor for the dog to eat.  

Bad dog. 

Bad, bad cat.

http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/category/photos/awkward-hall-of-fame/

LOL - some of those are hilarious!

Lol, baylacey! That's adorably funny. My dad's dog (that they owned after I was long moved away from home) once got into a turkey carcass  no actually it was a pound of butter (the turkey carcass was while I was over for thanksgiving one year) that was left out on the counter, then managed to also get into a package of rolaids a little further over on the same counter..it's the rolaids bit that was so funny. I didn't see it but I heard about it. She was a smart food theif too! She also liked to untie things...we could give her a knotted up ball of string or yarn (as long as it wasn't too tightly tied) and she would work and work--stop every now and then to assess her strategy-- until she got it all untied. She was really smart, and it was fun watching her...a few good chuckles.

My apologies in advance for offending anyone's sensibilites....

I have other funny stories about that dog.  She didn't eat just food.  All kinds of things disappeared.  My daughter's boyfriend had given her an expensive pair of earrings for Christmas one year, and she realized that one had disappeared from her dresser one morning soon after.  She looked for them daily in the backyard, everytime the dog was let out....and low and behold.........two days later.....voila!...there it was!

And you have never seen cooler looking dog poo than that which has light brights in it! 

Like others have said, what I find funny depends on my mood, the setting and the other people involved. What I never find funny is jokes that make fun of groups of people (jokes that are racist, sexist, homophobic, etc.). I also don't appreciate it when jokes are made about people's private lives. Take, for example, a politician - I have no problems with people making jokes based on what they are doing for a living, but don't joke about the fact that they may walk with a limp or that they just got a divorce. 

One person who never fails to make me laugh is Rick Mercer and this is one of my favourite moments from his show. It takes four public figures: Rick Mercer, Jann Arden, Kyle Shewfelt and Naheed Nenshi and puts them in a situation in which they are out of their elements. The humour comes from their natural reactions to the situation and to each other.

Lol..yeah..I find that funny. Kids would undoubtedy find that roll on the floor hilarious...and the thought of kids laughing at it makes me laugh.

Rick mercer is great somegal. I also really like Stephen Colbert, which I'm sure I've mentioned before.And those just for laughs skits...there's some slap-stick comedy I can appreciate!

I seem to like people acting silly, men dressing as women, calm, calculated, clever humour, humour that plays upon something deeper, especially if it's related to me and my life somehow, like Mike Myers pretending to be a techno-Kraut.

I don't like dirty humour. Sex jokes make me uncomfortbale, especially as a parent. I'm ever on guard for things that might be innapropriate for my child. Probly when I'm older this won't be a problem again.

I used to like Married With Children as a teen. I doubt I would now.

Here's one I've remembered since grade 9, and still chortle at because it's so rediculous and sedate:

Oh and here's a colour one!

ANd here's Dieter from Schprockets:

Mrs Premise and Mrs Conclusion. She had to flush the budgie down the loo, but they breeeed in the sewers!! Then they take a raft to France and meet up with the wife of Jean Paul Sartre, who is the same sort of bowlegged, fed up housewife as they are.

Another website that I really enjoy is www.inheritthemirth.com. The comics on that website poke fun at Christianity without being distasteful.

I think there's such a thing as family humour.....

Remember this? I showed it to my Mum who's 87, and she laughed so much she farted - which had her four year's old great-grandson laughing his wee head off, too.

I'm still envisioning the mopping between her legs! lol, oh dear!

Gotta say, I like the keep left sign at the top, that's pretty funny.

And I know you all love Monty Python. Here's one of my favorite sketches, and I hope it doesn't offend, but Graham Chapman is just so funny as the Chinese Consulate man! I love how he says Cornwall and opens his eyes wide in delight! So cute and hillarious!

This looks funny at first glance, but it isn't actually an error.  The yellow sign indicates that there is a sharp turn in the road, and the white sign indicates that you need to keep to the right of the road due to oncoming traffic.

I hope I'm not raining on anyone else's parade by pointing that out.

Hi MistsofSpring,

those signs are funny at first glance and often do have a meaning for someone, but it is not always easy to figure out who that is. 

eg.

http://cdn.smosh.com/sites/all/themes/smosh/images/bg_shadow_alpha.png); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 8px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; background-position: 100% 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; " />

Elanor,  the boneless chicken ranch pics are pretty funny, (it took me a second to realize why all the chickens were lying down...lol)  and I see what you mean about Graham Chapman's Cornwall.

Somegal,  I am a big fan of Rick Mercer too, but was very impressed by Jann Arden.  I don't think I could have done what she did.  Brave and funny. 

Does anyone remember the Far Side cartoons?

Well yes, I like Far SIde. Boneless Chicken Ranch is one.

Oh well about the arrows. I hadn't figured that out. I laughed at the other one too.

Another one of my favorites, Hell's Grannies by Monty Python. Watch out for the dangerous Keep Left signs at the end! lol!